April 2004 (issue # 3)
April 27, 2004
Eliminating Zero-Dollar SPOs
Changes in Travel
The Standing Purchase Order (SPO) is intended to facilitate
multiple purchases from a single vendor over a period of
time…typically, one year. For the departments that use them,
SPOs can enhance the procurement process by providing
flexibility and convenience to accomplish their repetitive
purchasing needs.
Unused SPOs, on the other hand, generate an increased workload
for both department staff and PSC purchasing agents. These are
SPOs that were never used to purchase the described items from
the designated vendor: in other words, zero dollars have been
spent. Of the 7,579 SPOs renewed in fiscal year 2003, the
Procurement Service Center (PSC) has identified 2,119 such
zero-dollar SPOs. This figure represents 28% of all SPOs created
in that year.
As a result, the PSC – with the support of the campus and System
controllers – is implementing a new policy to reduce or eliminate
unnecessary SPO renewals:
Effective immediately, your purchasing agent will not
renew a Standing Purchase Order (SPO) that has not
been used during the past SPO term. Upon receipt of an
SPO Renewal request for an unused SPO, the PSC will email the department outlining more appropriate procurement options, e.g., the University Procurement Card,
Departmental Purchase Order, and so on.
For small-dollar repetitive purchases, the Procurement
Card is the preferred method of procurement: see
www.cusys.edu/psc/purchasing/procurementcard.
Questions regarding departmental purchasing options should be
directed to the purchasing agent who specializes in the desired
commodity. A current list of Who buys What is available at
www.cusys.edu/psc/purchasing/whobuys-commodity.html.
So what do the new fiscal rules (effective April 2004) say about
State travel?
As you already know from reading the April 23 PSC
COMMUNICATOR, the meal per diem rates have increased.
New schedules for domestic and international locations are
available on the Colorado Statewide Travel Management
Program (STMP) web site. To see the new amounts, go to
www.cu.edu/psc and click on Payable Services – Travel, then
select the STMP link in the grey box, in the upper right corner
of the Travel web page.
Other Travel news…
Travelers can now be reimbursed for a personal phone call
costing up to $2/day for each full day in travel status.
(Previously, this was limited to a reimbursement of $1/day.)
“Reasonable” tips for services – e.g., restaurant, maid, etc. –
have now been defined as not to exceed 20% of the total
charge. (Previously, there were no guidelines.) Please
remember that tips on meal service are already included in
the per diem allowance and cannot be claimed separately.
You can now use your State Travel Card (US Bank VISA) at
an ATM to obtain cash advances of up to $1,500.
(Previously, advances were limited to $500 per trip.)
If your destination city is not listed on the US CONUS per
diem table, you can access a handy city-county search tool
from the STMP web site to determine your destination
county…and, therefore, the appropriate per diem rate. Go to
www.state.co.us/gov_dir/gss/cen/travel1/stmp/, and look in
the lower right corner under Tools.
And a few Travel reminders…
When attaching receipts to your Travel Voucher, don’t forget
to tape small (less than half-page) documents to a standard
size sheet of paper…and staple the entire packet once.
CU employees: If your TV will be received in the PSC more
than 60 days after trip end, please note this on the form. (And
we won’t call you to tell you what you already know…that
the reimbursement will be reported as income.)
Cullinet (Finally) Goes Away
Think back before PeopleSoft…do you remember the University’s
Cullinet procurement software? Although it was no longer used
for active processing, CU’s old Cullinet database remained
accessible after July 1999 (when PeopleSoft was introduced) in
order to allow research into old purchase orders and vouchers.
Effective April 30, 2004, Cullinet will finally be closed down,
and the PSC will be unable to research Cullinet records.
1099s to PBS, W-9s to PSC
Thanks for sending the 1099-Misc statements you receive to the
PBS (www.cusys.edu/psc/newsletter/psc-com2004-FEB_03.doc).
Please remember, however, that any W-9 forms received from
vendors should be sent or faxed to the PSC.
PSC NEWSLETTER
Published by: University of Colorado System
Editor:
Procurement Service Center
Campus Box F716 P.O. Box 6508
Aurora, Colorado 80045-0508
Normandy Roden
(303) 724-0675
[email protected]
Scope of Work (SOW) Form &
Sponsored Programs Approval
The SOW form was recently (effective 4/2004) revised to
remove references to sponsored program signature.
Please note that your campus grants/contracts office must still
review and approve high-dollar purchases using sponsored
program monies. The usual approval process continues to apply
to your Requisitions and Standing Purchase Order Requests
when these funds are involved.
The SOW form always requires the signature of a designated
campus Human Resources contact or (if paying a foreign
national) the signature of an international tax specialist at
Payroll & Benefit Services.
www.cu.edu/psc